Target-throwing apparatus



A 1927. v 1,638,283 E. F. BAHL MANN TARGET ,THROWING APPARATUS FiledOct. 24, 1921 5 ShegtS-Sheet 2 fzzverzior A Zzforn e9 Aug. 9,1927. I

E. F. BAHLMANN TARGET THROWING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 001:.24. 1921 Patented Aug. 9, 1927.

UNlTED STAES ERWIN F. BAHLMANN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

TARGET-THROWING APPARATUS.

Application filed October 2-4, 1921. Serial No. 509,986.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in targettraps and has for one of its objects to provide an appara tus suitableand convenient for use in a gallery or field.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus of thecharacter described which is capable of throwing targets in conformancewith any desirable trajectory.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus forthrowing targets which are supplied by magazine feed means and soarranged that the release of a targetmay be operated partially orentire- 1 ly from a safe, convenient and remote point.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus fordischarging targets which is operated by a rotary element wherebymechanically operating means, such as a motor, may be readily appliedthereto, and

rate of fire accurately timed.

This invention has for a further object to provide a target throwingapparatus so designed and constructed as to insure the throwing oftargets accurately at desirable heights for rifle shooting.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus forthrowing targets at the call of the shooter or at regulated Ill) tiniedintervals.

A further object of this invention is to provide a target throwingapparatus in which the target supporting face of its curved race orguide imposes suflicient friction on the material used for the t rget atthe point of contact therewith whereby the proper spin is impartedthereto as the same is thrown by the actuating means.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a magazine devicefor permitting the rapid throwing of targets for trap shooting, which,while especially adapted for use with flat targets which will not nest.may be used for any type of target.

lVith the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it beingunderstood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one complete example ofthe physical embodiment of my invention, and a modification thereof,constructed according to the best mode I have so far devised for thepractical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure l is an end View illustrating a targetthrowing apparatusembodying my invention Figure 2 is a side view of my target throwingapparatus, said view being taken looking on the plane of line 22 ofFigure 1;

Figure 3 'is a fragmentary view looking at the magazine end of myapparatus also in the plane of line 2-2 of Figure 1, said "iewillustrating a design of magazine other than that illustrated in Figures1 and 2;

Figure 4; is a fragmentary detail view part in sect on and part inelevation illustrating the feeding mechanismof that form of magazineillustrated in Figure 3, said view being taken on the plane of line 4-lof Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view of the feed plunger actuating armand carrying collar therefor;

Figure 6 is a top plan view thereof;

Figure 7 is a sectional view illustrating the construction of the innerdischarge end of the magazine trough, said view being taken on the planeof line 7-7 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a side elevational view of the stop or target holdingplunger which coacts with the target feeding plunger to hold a target inposition to be ejected by the throwing arm, and

Figure 9 is a view of the outer end of said holding plunger.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings in whichlike numerals designate like parts throughout the several views:

The apparatus consists of two spaced guide plates 11 and 12 held inspaced relation by pairs of spreader washers 13 mounted 011 suitablefastening bolts and a curved race or track 14 positioned centrally withrespect to the two guide plates by means of the spreader washers. Therace 14 is preferably constructed of material. having a high coetlicientof friction with reference to the material employed for the targets 15.lVhen wood discs are employed as targets, this high coefficient offriction is provided by the provision of saw teeth or serrations 16 onthe inner edge of the race.

The inner periphery of the race 14 has a major portion thereof struck onan are using the axis of a shaft 17 as its center and has its portionoutwardly of said curved part on a substantially straight line. Theguide structure just described is preferably sup ported by a bracketcasting 18 secured to plate 11 by suitable fastening members, whichcasting is adjustably mounted on a supporting base 19. The bracket 18formed with two axially aligned bearings 20 and 21 in which are jo llGClthe shaft 1'? and a shaft 22 respectively, said shafts having discs 23mounted on their inner ends which are provided with projections 2%whereby a rotation of shaft 22 will impart a rotary movement to shaft17.

The shaft 22 is driven shaft and may be either directly or indirectlyconnectet with rotatingmeans, in the present instance the same beingillustrated as connected with a counter shaft 25 journalcd in a bearingthrough a gear 27, which shaft 25 is coupled through a universal joint28 with a suitable drive shaft, which may be either manually ormechanically operated. In order to prevent retrograde movement of shaft22, a

ratchet means 29, of any desired construction, is mounted in a bracketmember 80 carried by bearing 21 and engages the teeth of the gearcarried by shaft 22.

lvlounted on the outer end of shaft 17 is a substantially l.-shapedlever 31 having its long arm in alignment with the race 1 1 and extendedinto the space between guides 11 and 12 to a point near the innerperiphery of the race. The shorter arm 33 of lever 31 :has a pin 3tmounted thereon to which one end of a contractile spring 35 is secured,the other end of said spring being adj-ustably made fast to the guidestructure by means of. an eye bolt 36.

The normal direction of rotation of shaft- 22 is in the direction of thearrow in Figure 2 so that with pins 2 1 engaged a rotation of-said shaftwill swing arm 32 also in the direction of the arrow storing up energyin the spring 35. When the arm 32 is swung to a position with the axisof pin 3 1 beyond an imaginary line drawn through the center of eye bolt36 and the axis of shaft 17, the energy of spring 35 will be suddenly released as a result of which arn 32 will be swung with a quick snap toits position illustrated in Figure 2, the pins 24 being disengagedduring this movement of arm 32 under the action of its spring.

Pin 3% and eye bolt 36 are so positioned that, when arm 82 engages thetarget held in theguideway, they are in alignment and the energy ofspring 35 released after the arm has engaged the target. Thisarrangement eliminates the possibility of injury to the targets wer thethrowing ar'm permitted to strike them with a sharp impact due to theenergy of the spring being released prior to the engagement of the armwith the target.

Suitable means are provided for supply ing targets to the inner end ofthe guide formed by the sides 11 and 12 and race 14 and said means areillustrated in Figures 1 and 2 as being what may be termed the tubularmagazine type. The inner ends of the plates 11 and 12 are formed withaligned apertures and registering with the aperture of plate 12 is acylinder 87 adapted to con tain the targets and provided with a followerplunger 38 and spring which normally feed them to the space between theguides 11 and 12. A suitable detachable plug 39 projects through theopening in plate 12 which with the follower plunger 38, secures a targetin position to be engaged by the arm 32.

In Figures 3 to 9 inclusive, I have illustrated the trough form ofmagazine feed in wh ch a target supply trough l0 terminates in registerwith the opening in the plate 11, a loading or feeding plunger l1 beingreciprocally mounted axially of this opening to project the targets 15into the guide way between plates 11 and 12. Plunger a1 is mounted onthe inner end of a rod or shaft 1-2 slidabiy mounted in a bracket 13 andsaid shaft is normally yield ably urged outwardly by a spring 4-1-coiled tlIBlEErI'OiU'Uil and confined between the 7 let and anadjustable nut 15 carried by the outer end of said shaft.

The shaft 12, and with it plunger 11, is moved inwardly against theaction of spring 1 1 by a bell crank lever 16 pivotally mounted at itsapex between two spaced ears or lugs 1-7 formed on a collar member 48.The lever 16 has a long arm 49 and a short arm 50, the long arm havingits outer end connected with the shaft 42 and the short arm having aroller 51 which tracks upon the outer periphery of the plate 23 carriedby shaft 22 which is in the form of an eccentric or cam. 1th thisconstruction it will be readily seen thatthe shaft 22 is so timed thatplunger 11 will be moved through the inner end of trough 10 to positiona fresh target 7 in the guide way prior to the release of the tension ofspring 35 as before described.

Cooperating with the plunger ll to yieldably retain the targetpositioned within the Y "aidewa to be e ected b arm is a holdl Y a ingplunger 52 which pro ects through the opening in plate 12 and is mountedon the inner end of a stem 53 slidably mounted in a bracket 54, plunger52 being yieldably urged into the guideway by a spring 55 coiled aboutstem 58 and confined between the plunger and the bracket 54:- The movement of the plunger by the spring 55 isrlimitedby an adjustable nut 56threaded on the outer end of stem 53. In order:to insure the passageover the plunger 52 of the arm 32 in the event no target is heldthereby, I provide a fin 58 which has its inner face inclined, as bestshown in Figures 4 and 8, fin 58 also restraining the plunger fromrotation.

To eliminate all possibility of breakage should a jam occur in the feedtrough, arm 49 of bell crank lever 46 has a breakable joint 59 which isnormally held rigid by a spring 60. The tension of spring is sufficientto permit the breaking of the joint 59 in the event some obstaclerestrains plunger 41 from movement inwardly.

It will be readily appreciated that the inner end of the trough 40 ispreferably in the form of a casting 61 and the trough proper may be amember which is U-shaped in transverse section so as to permit its beingled from any distant supply point without involving any expensivearrangement, as along the side wall of gallery and curved to the trapwith sufficient pitch so that targets will roll by gravity from counterto machine.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the acompanyingdrawings it will be readily apparent that the operation of my device issubstantially as follows For timed fire, the shaft 22 is rotated eithermanually or mechanically, as the case may be, at the desired rate andpin 24 carried by said shaft engages behind pin 24 carried by shaft 17revolving shaft 17 in a clockwise direction to Figure 2. This revolutionof shaft 17 swings arm 32 in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2extending and storing up energy in spring 35.

If the device is being actuated at the call of the shooter, shaft 22 maybe rotated to position arm 32 at a point slightly before the releas ofthe energy of spring 35, that is with the axis of stud 34 to the left ofan imaginary line drawn through the axis of shaft 1. and eye bolt 36,with reference to Figure 2. Retrograde movement of lever 32 under actionof the spring while in this position is prevented by the ratchet device29.

With the parts in this position arm 32 may be released at the call ofthe shooter by rotating shaft 22 to bring the axis of the stud 34 to theright of an imaginary line drawn through the axis of shaft 17 and eyebolt 36, w th reference to Figure 2. when the energy of spring 35 willbe suddenly released to snap arm 32 in the direction of the arrow. Theswinging of the arm 32 under action of spring 35 causes the same toengage the target positioned in the guide way by the feed means, whichtarget is rapidly passed along race 14 being spun or whirled in itscourse therethrough by reason of the race periphery having a highcoefficient of friction theretoward.

As will be obvious, the moment the energy of spring 35 is released, pins24 become disengaged to permit the quick rotation of shaft 17 and arm 32comes to rest in the position illustrated in Figure 2 until the pins 24again engaged and the cycle completed. In that form of magazineillustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a fresh target is fed into the guide wayimmediately upon the discharge of the preceding target and in that formof target feed device illustrated in Figures 3 to 9, the plunger 41 isso timed that the same will project or feed a fresh target to theguideway prior to the release of the tension of spring 35.

The throwing shaft and parts attached thereto are constructed as lightas consistent with strength to eliminate oscillation of the' arm afterthrowing a target. This relieves pins 24 from impact when operatingdevice rapidly. For very rapid work, one pin 24 is preferably made ofresilient construction to absorb the shock due to rapid rotation ofshaft 22.

IVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a yieldable targetholdingmeans, a rotary element for throwing a target held by said holdingmeans, and means operable from said element for actuating the targetholding means.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a target holding means, acontinuously rotating shaft, a mechanically actuated holding meansco-operating with the first mentioned target holding means, and meansconnected with said shaft for tl owing a target held by said holdingmeans.

In an apparatus of the character de scribed. a target giiide, targetholding means positioned adjacent one end of the target guide, and,adapted to yieldably engage the opposite sides'of a target, and a targetthrowing arm rotatable to sweep the guide and throw the target held bysaid holding means. I

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a stationary targetguide, target holding means positioned at one end of the target guideand including a pair of target engaging members adapted to yieldablysecure a target with its periphery in contact with the guide, gcamjactuated means for operating one of said target engaging menr bers, anda target throwing arm rotatable to sweep the guide and throw the targetheld by said holding means. I

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a target holding means, athrowing shaft, a continuously rotating drive shaft, a drive connectionbetween said shafts, a target throwing arm carried by said throwingshaft and independent of the holding means, said arm being arranged tosweep the holding means and throw a target held thereby, and meansoperable upon rotation of the throwing shaft a part of a cycle by saiddrive shatt to accentuate the speed of rotation of the throwing shaftthe remainder of the cycle whereby the target held by said. holdingmeans will be thrown into the air.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, a target- ,throwing arm,a target feed trough, and a feed member for ex" tracting targets fromsaid trough and Pld(2 ing them in the path of said arm, means cooperating with the feed member to yieldably secure an extracted targetin the path of the throwing arm, and means for retracting said memberafter each operation of the throwing arm.

'7. In an apparatus oi the character described, a target throwing arm, atarget teed trough, and a feed member for e tracting targets from saidtrough and placing and holding them in the path of said arm, means forrotating; said arm to throw the target held in its patl'i by saidmember, and means coordinated with said arm for actuating said member to{position a "fresh target in the path of the arm after each actuation ofsaid arm.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, a target throwing arm, atarget supply trough, a feed member coordinated with said arm forpositioning targets in the path of said arm, and means inde pendent ofthe arm and coat-ting with said member for holding the targets in thethrowing arms path.

'9. In an apparatus of the character described, a target throwing arm, atarget supply trough, a teed member coordinated with said arm forpositioning targets in the path of said arm, a holding member coactingwith the feed member to hold the targets in the throwingarms path, andmeans preventing injury to the apparatus in the event a target is notheld by said holding member.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, a target throwing arm, atarget supply trough, a feed member coordinated with said arm forpositioning; targets in the path of said arm, a holding member coactingwith the feed member to hold the targets in the throwing arms pat-h,springn'ieans normally urging: the holding member into the throwing armspath. and means permitting of said arm by said holding member in theevent a target is not in place.

11. In an apparatus of the character describee, a target throwing arm, atarget supply trough. a feed member coordinate with said "armforpositioning targets in the path thereof, a lever for operating saidmember, and a joint in said lever breakableupen stress thereon beyond apredetermined degree.

12. In an apparatus of the character described, a target throwing arm atarget supply trough, a feed member tor positioning targets from saidtrough in the path of said arm, means for actuating said teed member,and means preventing injury to the apparatusin the event of a jamrestrain-- ing said feed member from actuation.

13. In an apparatus of the character described, a target throwing arm, atarget supply trough, a feed member coordinate with said arm forpositioning targets in the path thereof, and a member for operating saidteed member, said member being yield able upon stress thereon reachinga'predetermined degree to prevent actuation of said teed member.

14. 111 an apparatus of the character described, a target projectingmeans, comprising a rotating element, a rotatable throwing member. andmeans operated by the. continued rotation oi the element beyond a.predetermined point to operate the throwing member, whereby the rate ofrotation of said element bears a constant ratio to the rate of ta tdelievery by the throwing member.

15. In an apparatus of the character described, a target projectingmeans, comprising a rotating element, a throwing arm rotatable throughthree lnindred and sixty degrees (360), means for impelling the throwingarm rapidly from a predetermined point to another, and means operable bythe continued rotation of the element to the tirstanentionedpredetermined point to store energy in the impelling means adapted to bereleased upon continued movement ol 'the throwing member by the rotatingelement past the first mentioned point whereby the energy stored in theimpell ing means is released to actuate the throwing member in a quickmovement between said predetermined po nts, whereby the throwing memberis actuated once for each complete rotationof the rotating element.

16. In an apparatus of the character described, a target guideway, athrowing arm adapted to sweep the guideway, and means for positioning atarget in the guidcway in the path of said throwing arm and including atubular magazine, a plunger member within said tubular magazn e forresiliently urging targets therein to a position within the guideway,and an adjustable stop member co-acting with said plunger to yieldablyhold the innermost target in the guideway.

In testimony whereof, I my si 'nature.

ER'WIN r. BAHLMZNN.

